Fear of demolition triggered hearing on six-story building within proposed Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District. On January 4, 2011, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designation of the Franklin Building at 186 Remsen Street as an individual City landmark. The vacant building is within the proposed boundaries of the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District, but was calendared separately on December 7, 2010 due to “threat of demolition” after the building owner filed a demolition permit application with Buildings. Chair Robert B. Tierney explained that Landmarks was concerned that the owner would demolish or alter the building before final deliberations on the proposed historic district had taken place.

The Parfitt Brothers designed and built the Queen Anne-style Franklin Building in 1887. The six-story building is clad in red brick with stone trim and terra cotta ornament, and its sandstone base features a large arched entranceway. The building lost its original roof around 1950 when the top one-and-a- half stories were removed and replaced with a simple brick parapet. (read more…)

Elected officials and business community expressed concerns about proposed twenty-building district. On December 14, 2010, Landmarks heard testimony on the proposed Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District in downtown Brooklyn. The district would include approximately twenty properties along Court, Montague, Remsen, Joralemon, and Livingston Streets. The proposed district is characterized by large commercial buildings in a range of architectural styles including the 35-story Montague-Court Building at 16 Court Street, the 32-story Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Building at 75 Livingston Street, and the thirteen-story Temple Bar Building at 44 Court Street. Many of the buildings were constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries following New York City’s consolidation and at a time when speculators believed downtown Brooklyn would become a financial and commercial center to rival lower Manhattan. Landmarks calendared the proposed district in October 2010.

At a hearing, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz spoke in support stating that the district was a “monument to the borough’s history.” Markowitz, however, asked Landmarks to exclude 75 Livingston Street, which is now a residential co-op, from the district. He said the tenants opposed designation because it would add onerous fees and complicate a planned renovation. Representatives of Assembly Member Joan Millman and local Council Member Steven Levin also recommended that Landmarks exclude 75 Livingston Street. Several residents of the co-op attended the hearing also to speak against including their building in the proposed district. (read more…)